


Tales From The Laboratory

by astorinx



Category: Tetsuwan Atom | Astro Boy
Genre: Adults, Aged-Up Character(s), M/M, Nonbinary Character, One Shot Collection, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Retro, Revised Version, Swearing, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:35:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23938525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astorinx/pseuds/astorinx
Summary: (Revised version of original FanFiction.net story) Tales From The Laboratory is a one-shot collection surrounding the romantic relationship between Astro and Reno as adults.
Relationships: Astro/Reno
Kudos: 3





	1. I'll Dance With Ya!

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Tales From The Laboratory](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/614215) by Astornix. 



> This story was originally posted to fanfiction.net, but has been condensed here to only showcase what I consider to be decent stories. None of the stories (unless stated otherwise) connect, or are part of a linear universe. Some stories may belong to AUs, but all come with the basic assumption that both Astro and Reno are adults. Astro also uses they/them pronouns in every story due to my personal headcannon. Thanks for reading!

**I'll Dance With Ya!**

_Synopsis: Astro and Reno have a coffee date._

Papers upon papers, tools beside tools, and robot parts strewn about, the lab is a complete mess. But even though Reno knows this, his only response is to sit by the couch and fish for chopsticks to try to eat the leftover ramen from the day before.

There's silence after the record player finishes playing the last song and Reno's momentarily okay with it, letting it serve as a buffer period to think about what he needs to get done before 5, because at 5, he's meeting up with Astro.

...

It's a quarter after five, and Reno's sitting by himself at a 2 seat table all the way in the back of the local coffee shop waiting for Astro. They said they would show up as soon as possible, but now he's doubting their words and letting time go by scrolling through his phone whilst taking small sips from his latte.

Finally, he hears the sound of the storefront door open and perks up. Surely enough, he sees Astro walk in with the widest eyes and most adorable smile, clinging onto their backpack as they look around to perhaps find out where he is.

"Astro!" Reno calls to them.

They catch his voice and with a short exclamation, they happily make their way towards his table and sit on the seat in front.

"Thanks for waiting," they begin, "traffic was a total bitch."

"Oh... was there an accident, or...?"

"No no, everyone was just so slow! I even turned my car off for like a whole two minutes because the wait was so long..."

"Geez," Reno scoffs and gives Astro a look of disgust that they don't respond to.

"So whatcha' drinking? Hazelnut?" They ask.

"Ah, no uh... matcha..."

"Oh really? Sounds interesting– what do you think I should get?"

Reno takes a final sip of his latte, "I... I dunno– whatever you want, I guess."

Astro frowns, "that's not much of a response, but I'll take it," They shrug before standing and walk away to the front counter to order themselves a drink.

Reno's now left alone with his thoughts, or at least until Astro comes back; and while that wouldn't be such a bad thing, it seemed like all he could think about was the pile of work he had back at the lab; all the papers he has to input, the wait list filled to the brim with robots that need to be fixed, and this is just the lab stuff!

Let's not forget the long, strenuous meetings with all the other quote, unquote "smartasses" about god knows what.

Because I mean fuck if he knows, last meeting they talked about how to follow code of ethics, but he swore the meeting before that was a debate on which _Star Wars movie_ was the best.

Just pure, pure nonsense.

But, at least he can confine in his datemate and the ridiculous amount of vinyl records he owns. He doesn't know what he would do without the "pseudo-stoner" vibes that Tame Impala has to offer.

Then again, he has that opinion about virtually everything, so who really knows what he gives a fuck about?

Maybe Astro? That's a bit of a cop-out, but regardless, what for sure isn't something pulled out of someone's ass is the fact that Astro, yes Astro, is making their way back to Reno with their drink in hand and that oh so adorable smile.

Downwards mental spiral avoided!

"Back?" He asks.

"Yeah, I just got a french vanilla, something simple," they sit back down in their chair and scoot it closer to the table.

"Oh, cool," Reno looks back at his phone.

"You know, this place is really nice, and very accessible too– I'm surprised. The Pizza Place down by the corner is a nightmare, way too fucking loud, and the pizza isn't even that great! Tastes like week old DiGiorno..."

"I mean it's probably better than day-old ramen."

"Oh, you're back on that shit again? Reno– you really gotta invest in better food, that's a butt load of sodium."

He chuckles and glances up at them with a smirk, "Your concern is admirable."

Astro sighs, "But I'm being serious! If I have to go over there to that stupid lab and bring you real meals, I'll do it!"

"Uh huh... sureee..."

"What? Are you... apprehensive?"

"Well yeah, I have way too much on my fucking plate to eat a full course meal, you know this!"

Astro snaps their fingers, "damnnit, you might be right for once, shit."

"If you really are concerned though, we should plan more outings together– we could hit up that new Los Ranchos Steakhouse that just opened up over by Eastland and 69th."

"Aw no, sorry, I'm being a nerd and doing the whole 'university' thing, so I'm surprised I even found time to be here..."

"Wow, 'Definitely Not Captain America' is getting their degree, who knew?"

"Oh, well _I_ knew, thanks."

It takes every fiber in Reno's being to not burst into disgusting laughter, "so... so... w...what's... your...mmm...ma...major?"

Astro chuckles, "Reno... are... are you okay... you're trying so hard to not laugh but it just looks like you're gonna faint."

"Nononono! Te...tell...me... your...mm...major... Buddy," He wheezes.

"... Biochemistry..." They sigh.

"Aw... that's... ni...nice... a lot of work though... right?"

"Reno... I haven't seen my bed in days if that's what you mean."

"Oof."

...

"I'm surprised you had no idea, you didn't ever think 'oh I wonder why my datemate hasn't been hitting me up lately' or whatever?"

"To be honest, no. But to be fair, I too am a busy bee because I partake in a thing called a 'job'."

"Oh yeah, and what was the consensus of the last meeting, _Rise of Skywalker_ the best _Star Wars film_?"

"There actually was another meeting a week after that one, but I don't remember– I do know someone there was a bit too passionate about _The Force Awakens._ "

"Well, good enough for me! Not like I give a shit anyways."

"You don't seem to be into a lot of movies, huh?"

"It's _Futurama_ or bust, babey!"

Outside the coffee shop, Astro and Reno walked along the sidewalk hand-in-hand conversing about pretty much anything that was socially acceptable to blab about in public.

"He just doesn't get it though, I tell him one thing, and then he goes off to like I dunno, his 'posse' of sorts, whatever the fuck that means, and he says the complete opposite like a total dbag! Like geez..." They scowl.

"Well _mi amor_ , that's why you don't just say stuff like that, you gotta hold your words secret," He suggests.

"I know but... gah! I'm just annoyed, don't mind me– but... thanks for hearing me out."

"Yeah of course, sounds like therapy has been working out really well for you?"

Astro freezes for a moment, as if they had forgotten basically everything and had to go back and retrieve it all.

"Mmmm...hhhmmm... very well actually! In fact, I'm going back tomorrow at... eight...thirty...? I can't remember," they say.

"Really? That's cool! I'm extremely proud of you," Reno responds.

Astro blushes, "Ohhhh, you're just saying that to flatter me..."

"No no, for real– It takes a lot, you know? And I'm glad you've put in the effort," He glances at them with a smile.

"Yeah... I uh... I think I might be proud of myself too," they pause as they let the words they just spoke sink in.

"H...holy shit..."

...

In a probably unsurprising contrast, Astro's apartment is quite clean. Though it is a little small, at least it's bigger than whatever that lab Reno "calls home" is.

"Jealous, much?" Astro teases from the couch they sat at, stroking a nearby pillow to see if Reno would notice the stark difference in just how clean their apartment is versus his dingy lab.

"Oh no, I've accepted my fate as a lazy ass slob, it's fine," he closes the front door and makes his way towards them.

"Well, I guess it's better to just own it than hate it, right?"

"Yeah," he plops onto the couch, "Very much so."

"So uh... how is work? I know you told me about the whole _Star Wars_ meeting– but I wanna know more! Like... like what's a typical 'Reno as a Junior Robotics Engineer' day like?"

"Hmmm..." He thinks, "I get up... take a shower... eat cereal..."

"Huh... fascinating."

"Mmmhmmm, then I have to go pick up the papers I need to input into the system, or sometimes someone is nice and just drops them off to the lab, either way, I spend like a good hour or two inputting papers, then I stop."

"Oh, how come?"

" _Well_ , I have to open up my lab for robot repairs– a lot of people come to me with broken robots to fix, in fact so many, I had to draft up a waiting list and now even _that's_ filled up..."

"Ah, geez, that's a bit much."

"Well, It's the stupid Ministry's fault because they keep giving me out as recommendation to anyone that needs repairs– but they don't realize that I'm getting overbooked!"

"And you haven't told them anything?"

"We had a meeting three weeks ago about _Star Wars_ , do you think they're gonna take me seriously?!"

"Well, they should! It's your mental health and physical strain on the line– you can't perform at your best if you're constantly stressed out..."

"...true..."

"At the very least, they should let you take sick days off, because then you could somewhat recuperate, right?"

"Mmmm I suppose... I mean it would be nice in general, but..."

"But what?" Astro looks at Reno sternly.

"Uh... I... I don't... I don't know..." he glimpses back at them.

" _Exactly!_ You need to let them know! Or at least try."

He looks away for a moment, "Yeah... I um... I'll think about it."

Astro sighs, "This is too depressing yet somehow stale at the same time," they stand, "We need to do something about this, _together._ "

"Like?" Reno asks.

"... Huh... I... I didn't think this fully through to keep it 100 with you, sorry."

He stands and laughs, reaching over for Astro's right hand, "It's fine, at least you made an attempt," He gently leads them towards the middle of the living room.

"Oh I know, but... I guess I was just being a bit too cocky and thinking I had a great solution. Turns out I was just psyching myself out, who would've thought?!" They softly chuckle and let Reno wrap his arms around them comfortably.

"I love you," he murmurs.

"I... I know... and I love you too..." they mumble back.

It's times like these that Reno feels grateful to have someone like Astro. Too long had it felt like something was just... _missing_... and he couldn't figure out what.

That is, until Astro entered the picture.

Because yeah, they're best friends, but something about being more than just "besties" with them had it's own feelings of excitment and wonder– I mean the things they could do together!

Or maybe just... the things they usually did– but now they could rub it everyone else's face and say they're doing it "as a couple."

Yeah, that's nice.

What's also nice is looking down to see Astro happily in his arms as if nothing in life could ever be harmful, however that, of course, is a false mentality, and leaving it at that would be best.

He breaks away from the hug though to now be holding both of their hands with a warm smile.

Astro's gotta give themselves a moment to make a decision. They then cordially accept and put their left hand behind his back whilst intertwining their right hand fingers with his left.

"... No music? I'm... surprised..." They utter in a soft voice.

"Nah... this... this is alright."

xx


	2. Maple Syrup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Astro and Reno are going on a long, cross-province road trip.

The road ahead looks like a 2-lane highway sandwiched between flat planes with virtually no one in sight. They'd been driving around for a while in what seemed to be blaring heat– but in the middle of fall? Regardless, it for the most part... was boring.

Astro flips a page in the book they're reading, focusing on the "alleged" plot of the narrative to make up for the dull ambiance. Reno, on the other hand, has his eyes glued to the roadway in front of him.

So much as he knows it's virtually impossible to get into an accident– especially with no one around– he still finds it crucial to look. Plus, he refuses to give up his "good driver" stance in spite of being far-flung.

Minutes happen to seem like hours in no time with the milieu not changing one bit.

Astro gives up on the book briefly to glance at Reno and speak, "really boring ride, huh?"

"I'll say," he replies.

"How far do you think we even are? Could've sworn we were only 19 kilometers away?"

"Well, we've only been driving for like..." he breaks his stare to peek at the clock, "fifteen minutes."

"Oh really? Feels like... an hour..."

Reno returns to his stare of the road with a lip bite restraining his laughter, "Better get ready for hour 2 in another fifteen minutes then."

Astro softly chuckles and looks out the window to get a good look of the desert environment encircling the two of them. In the middle of the afternoon, the sky is a bright blue with nearly no clouds in sight. The sun gleamingly radiates upon the ground, which for the most part was only asphalt and sand.

Time passes anew, and the car yet again is silent. Wheels against the pavement are drowned out by birds that become the norm for a time, all while there seemed to be no end in sight of the same old–same old.

Picking the book back up again, a look of irritation is clearly painted on their face, giving implications that the story wasn't as entertaining as they thought it would be when they selected it from the local bookstore days before the two of them started their obscenely long road trip.

A flip of a page later and nothing seems to be lightening up. They let out a sigh and look back out the window to see if anything has changed– and of course, nothing has.

Maybe if they just reached over and turned on the radio? Then again, they are in practically the middle of nowhere; the chances of even finding an FM station equivalates to a needle in a haystack– or maybe the odds of finding that were considerably higher?

It's hard to keep the irritation hidden in the face of not wanting to push the fault onto Reno. In fact, it became so utterly palpable, that he decided to take matters into his own hands and pullover.

"I can't, you look so unhappy right now. There's gotta be something we can do to fix this..." He states before turning the car off.

Astro, now caught in a whirlwind, stutters, "Um. Well. I... I dunno... what... hmm..."

"Well, we've already pulled over, might as well just take a little break?"

"I mean... I guess... I just– this is a bit excessive for dealing with acute annoyance," they comment, shifting in their seat.

"Oh no no no, this is fine! Don't feel sorry..." Reno unbuckles his seat belt, "We can take all the time we need, there's no rush..."

Astro sighs, but lets him get closer out of pity. They try to look at him with a smile, but all they could feel was the sense of remorse and secondhand awkwardness during the two-minute reticence. He picks up on this though, and meets their expression with a warm smile of his own, reassuring that all was okay.

"It's okay," he says, "we can stop."

"I–I... I know..."

He reaches over and puts a hand on their shoulder, "I'll admit. I'm a little bored too– so you know, it's nothing to be ashamed of. I promise you, I'm not upset."

Everything for them now seems to be under a magnifying glass. The car feels like its thousands of degrees hotter, the pauses in between speaking, a vulnerable minuscule hell. What can they do to stop this?

"H–hey, you know... It–It's fine... y–you don't... have to... d–do this..."

He scoffs, "Gosh, you're really anxious."

"Don't– don't say that, you'll m–make it worse..." they look away.

"Oh, sorry..."

"It's– It's fine..."

Now Reno's wondering if he made the wrong call. I mean all he was trying to do was cheer Astro up– but he guesses it was a bit too abrupt of a decision to make.

"Do you just... wanna keep driving," he asks.

Astro gives it some thought, tapping their fingers against the book to keep themselves focused, "Actually... I... uh... I think I need some fresh air."

They unbuckle their seat belt and get out of the car, leaving Reno all by himself for the time being.

...

Fifteen minutes later, Astro comes back to the car, letting out a final exhale and giving Reno a grin of reassurance.

"I think I just needed a little head space, thanks," they express.

He answers back, "Oh, no problem– It's totally fine."

They gingerly laugh, clicking their seat belt back in, "How much more do we have? 14 kilometers?"

"Mmmm... yeah, I'd say so– give or take..."

"We should probably get going then, we're like... 13 minutes away."

He looks out at the road ahead, and then back at Astro.

"I mean... we're not in a hurry..."

"Oh, what's that supposed to mean? Do you not wanna drive? Because I'll take the driver's seat if you'd like!"

"No no! I just uh... really... wanna... bask in the moment..."

"Huh?"

"You know... when do we ever just end up in like the middle of nowhere with no responsibilities and like... I dunno! Just... nothingness– but in a good way!"

"I think it's for good reason if you ask me," You'd die out here of dehydration in no time."

"Oh, well, when you put it like that, you make it sound scary. But I just want a little break! Just like... two minutes of nada, _¿Tu me entiendes?_ "

"Yeah yeah, I get you..." They reach their hand over for his, "It... it really is nice..."

"You see! Breaks are fun!"

"Okay– you got me. I mean it's not like I wasn't on board– I just think of all places, I never thought we'd take one in the middle of the desert."

Reno chortles, "Then it's official! Two minutes of just... nothing..." he pulls his seat back and leans against it, glaring at the car's ceiling for the time being.

Astro quickly takes note and rushes over with their hand to gently run their fingers through his hair, the smile on his face indicative of his joy.

Stillness isn't an issue now, in fact, it's affectionately welcomed; It lets the two of them take a bit and decompress it all, letting everything go. Even if at this point the sun was blazing down them both, at least it came with charming light that made Reno's face pleasant to look at.

"... I'm really glad we did this..." They mumble.

He turns to face them and beams, "I'm really glad too, I mean when do we ever get to travel cross-province like this? This is like a once-in-a-lifetime ordeal."

"You... you have a point– but I mean... It's... It's a sweet sentiment, so thank you," they sink deeper into their seat with relaxed shoulders and a flaky smile.

xx


End file.
